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Author's note: something like 5-6 sessions behind on logs again
A half-day of travel brought the party to a walled compound with a windowless internal keep structure built into the side of a small mountain. Guards could be seen on the walls and smoke belched from a variety of chimneys inside; this outpost was clearly not abandoned.
Circling around gave a good overlook from the slopes above. As night fell the settlement became more active. As with Robin's volcano lair the majority of occupants appeared to be mojh. Captive humans (and possibly others) were hauled from sheds along one side of the compound and into the workshops. Not all were returned later.
As dawn approached and activity died down the party rappelled / safe-fell down to the rear of the compound, then dashed for the shelter of the nearest doorway. Inside an emaciated man hung from a rack, tended by a kobold who cowered under a table as the party swiftly took it's sleeping mojh parent captive.
The mojh was initially reticent but upon being made aware that these were the same adventurer responsible for slaying Robin and releasing the island mojh became completely cooperative, through fear or hope of reward was unclear. It quickly provided a sketch map of the inside of the keep along with details of various traps and a set of keys.
The man was restored to consciousness and some semblance of health, but could provide little additional information. The captive population had been taken from somewhere coastal a long time ago and he had only a number to identify him. Offered a choice of names by Sa he chose "Pascall", and became the default leader / spokesperson for the other human captives when they were released shortly after.
In a large cage near the front corner which had not been clearly visible from above the party was surprised to find their friendly Derhii tribe. Once released these quickly took care of the guards (striking from above) and control of the compound was certain, but not before the keep had been alerted. One of the derhii, "Oorah" took a liking to Sa's leather coat of even-more-sexy, so Sa gifted him his original leather coat of sexy receiving in return Oorah's loincloth (bum flap of not-at-all-sexy).
The keep doors had been locked, but the supplied key worked. In the entry chamber a winged lion with draconic scales had been released from it's chain - and several mojh watched intently from an upper, glass fronted chamber. Their complacency turned to panic as Sa's arrow shattered the glass, then death as Zediz'r unleashed an Earth blast inside. Meanwhile Markos was able to calm and edge around the beast (dragonne), opening a door further into the keep and backing away. It promptly purposefully bounded away through the door and the party followed down a long and frequently turning hallway which seemed to be the only way forward.
The door to the first side-chamber had been torn open by the dragonne which was gorging itself on the supplies stored inside. There was also the statue of a panicked looking human adventurer and carved into the bottom of this "Here [name?] met his end at the basilisks gaze." With great caution the party explored adjoining chambers finding what appeared to be some sort of "dining room" with partial corpses still impaled on spikes from the walls and a trapped chamber with better quality supplies.
Returning to the corridor and moving on, the next chamber was shown on the map as containing a secret door leading further into the dungeon but also contained some adventurers, trussed up and badly beaten / tortured. Barely, the party recalled seeing these three previously. They were healed a little but opted to quickly leave, citing a wish to get away from the one who kept coming back to torture them for no reason than to hear them scream. The description of the path out ("mind the dragonne, don't worry about the winged apes, they're on our side") was met with looks as if the party were crazy. [I wonder how they reacted when they got outside to discover there really were winged apes? They were gone by the time we left anyway.]
Before the party could take time to look for the secret door it opened and a brightly plumaged feathered humanoid holding a metal longbow emerged. Markos expressed the party's willingness to avoid a fight but in response a shower of crackling, energy laden arrows was sent down the room, no hits but one passing clean through the table behind which Sa had dived for cover. The party responded with spells and missiles of their own, Markos' heightened Scream stunning the birdman into dropping his bow and allowing the party to close, removing the advantage of range (also greatly frustrating Zenon who had cast a multi-use heightened Ice bolt and was now unable to use it effectively).
Deprived of it's bow the birdman launched a flurry of talon and beak attacks at Markos which mostly bounced off his armour of Invunerabilty, then after a few attempts to get clear of the combat surrendered - for long enough to snap a token of invisibility and flee through the secret door, party in hot pursuit. At an intersection the correct direction was given away by a portcullis crashing down across the entryway to a large chamber where the birdmanj became visible again shouting to "kerrin" for aid. Sa, who had picked up the metal bow on the way past, put an end to this with a dead shot through the bars. But now the sound of heavy chains being dragged could be heard from farther in the room, out of sight but towards the only mapped exit.
The portcullis was heaved aside - a group effort - and the party ventured in to face a strange creature indeed, a bit like a horse or deer but with both fur and scales, and a single long horn emerging from it's head - A Ki-Rin, a legendary, holy creature known only from ancient myths. Non-hostile communications were established (although Sa, for reasons known only to himself, developed an intense mistrust of the being) and it was learnt that Anthony somehow pulled the ki-rin forward through time. The heavy black iron chains which bound it were strongly enchanted to limit and drain it's power, reinforcing their own enchantments in the process.
Following the chains back to their source they were found to attach to an altar which radiated an aura of foul and corrupt magic strong enough to be felt. Zediz'r was upset by it's very presence [but probably more so when we later had to leave the dungeon without finding a way to destroy it]. Zenon had a strange and worrying interest ... Markos was disturbed but nevertheless set his mind to work on a way of freeing the ki-rin with the resources at the party's disposal. Targeted Dispel Magic spells proved to suppress the hardness-enhancing enchantments on the chains long enough that they could be struck loose from the collar welded around the ki-rin's neck, which Markos promised to also remove if it met them at the forge in Murdered Bow at a later date (a promise later kept).
In return the ki-rin funnelled some of it's returning power directly into it's rescuers, inflicting a slight, temporary drain on their health but replenishing the magical energies of the spellcasters. Being the only one to suffer the downside but not the upside of this did not improve Sa's opinion of it.
"Further on in this direction is where slaves and experimental subjects are held" the ki-rin advised before leaving to once again experience the open sky. Indeed the next room showed signs of an unpleasant occupancy, until recently it appeared several people have been suspended tied from the roof and it stank of urine and faeces. These recently-captives were encountered in the corridors beyond (which were all ultimately dead ends); all akashics whom had been forced to use their ability to tap into the eternal memory of the world in service to Anthony's purposes. They greeted release rather than recapture with gratitude but all being completely exhausted and barely able to stand they too joined the exodus to the outside, mentioning that there was one of their number unaccounted for, a recent arrival taken to a separate chamber for "questioning".
There was only one (mapped) chamber this could be and the door though locked was quickly dealt with. Inside were poor quality foodstuffs and wine, a large variety of magical items presumably taken from adventurers and a naked, blindfolded litoran hanging from the ceiling, beaten unconscious but still in otherwise relatively good health. Cut down, roused, clothed and re-equipped from the plentiful supply of armour and weapons (including her own pair of battleclaws) she insisted on accompanying the party to get revenge on the man (Anthony) who kept and tortured her here. Interestingly he had been using her to search for information on the party, as such she was already passingly familiar with each of the group [and possibly some of our individual secrets?]
New PC:
Valmai (Val) is a Litoran Akashic who has been thrown out of her guild for indiscreet use of her akashic abilities for personal purposes and bringing the guild into disrepute. This dishonour has also led to exile from her native tribe.
One area of the map was yet unexplored and the party backtracked to here. A locked door much like the one to Robin's laboratory but decorated with a tree depicting mystical, theological and philosophical fields branching into ever more esoteric and impractical ideas and protected by vicious blade traps slowed entry to the last significant chamber, but the traps were eventually disabled and the lock picked.
Inside an old, frail looking man bearing the resemblance which marked him as an Anthony waited patiently behind a desk. He made no attempt to resist as Sa crossed the room and grappled him, but calmly spoke to the party.
[I can't remember the specifics of the conversation but it went something along the lines of "you have been lucky so far, now I shall rid us of the thorn you have been in our side"]. As Sa squeezed tighter there was a crunching sound and Anthony's body collapsed like a sack full of water, slipping out of the giant's grasp and squirming away to the centre of the room. Here it contorted in on itself and then passed through several other humanoid forms (of varying races and genders) before expanding into a huge coiled serpent, topped with five humanoid heads each some variation of Anthony.
The party swung into "lay the smack down" mode, Markos acting first and throwing up an Eldritch Wall and then heightened Eldritch Webbing the fusion to it to protect Zediz'r; who raced to heal Sa, still wounded from the doors. The downside of this was everyone else had to spend time moving to get into position, fortunately the Anthony fusion chose to spend their first few actions mockingly taunting "Is that the best you can do?"
That tune changed once Zenon started cutting loose with serious cold and Sa got in position (flanking with Markos and Val) to start scoring hits with his sword-staff. Bright blasts of light from the heads blinded Markos (and at least one other) for precious seconds but also seemed to render those heads incapable of acting for the duration. As several of the heads seemed to combine their power for something big Sa scored a telling blow, and with a cry of "what have you done" the fusion vanished in a blast of light.
As his vision cleared (again) Markos took the precaution of casting See Invisibility - just in time to catch the Anthony/s heads emerging from the ethereal plane behind the line-up of Zediz'r, Sa and Zenon. Three heads cast a petrifying effect on Sa, Markos and Val [Val saved?], while the other two Dominated Zediz'r and Zenon and instructed them to attack their friends. It all looked over at this point.
Sa (in the middle) used his last action to apply "percussive recalibration" to the adjacent two, literally banging their heads together. Markos also struggled against stiffening bones and flesh to cast one last spell - an area-affect Dispel Magic, knowing this would affect only the most powerful effect on each person and also knowing that none of the party buffs were as powerful as the spells they were being subjected to. Fortune (or something greater)[Hero point spent!] was once again with the party and this not only disrupted all the domination and petrification effects but also whatever magic was holding the fusion of Anthonys together. The serpent collapsed into five badly injured bodies, all but one of which Val eagerly finished off.
One was spared for questioning but offered no remorse, only noting that clearly our previous successes had not been luck after all (how wrong she was there) but that there were still others who would oppose us, each more powerful than the last. There being no other safe option Val was allowed to complete her revenge.
~~~
In the final chamber rested a large crystal globe, radiating an aura of gloom. Through the mist within glimpses could be caught of members of the royal family and others near them (Eric, Kita, Aiu...) apparently coming to unpleasant ends. Although Markos and Zenon recognised the ball as a device for peering into possible futures, and only bleak ones at that, Sa lashed out at it in anger and the scenes portrayed and it exploded into a hail of shards.
A message was sent by coin to ascertain the current state of the royal party just in case, and a terse series of responses were received from Eric: "Could use some help. Litoran camp four days south. Honour duel. Need my tribe."
From the location given Val recognised the camp as belonging to her estranged tribe.
